Not only do skilled massage therapists commit to growing their understanding of anatomy through texts, they also allow intuition and palpation of soft tissue in the moment to expand their knowledge every day. And so the hands of a gifted bodyworker are always listening, always learning. As client, you are teacher first, saying: "This is where things got stuck. This is a place that's wound too tight. This is the painful spot that needs to find relief today."

Together, therapist and client read one person's story - the hands of the therapist moving through raised and lowered nuances and tangles of one particular life, a moment-by-moment truth imbedded in the layers of one person's anatomy.

And as compressed and knotted areas learn to let go, stretching and unwinding through the ancient/modern art of massage, therapist and client make :: space. for new chapters of healing and self-compassion to begin. Every single time.